Past projects 31
Sipping and Snacking in Ms. Spillane's Class
Funded Sep 29, 2022This project is one of my favorite projects to have been funded. One of the ways we are able to keep students engaged in our classroom is by offering them water, granola bars, gum or a sucking candy to help them focus. By having water available for students inside the classroom, we are able to keep them with us rather than walking through the hallways to the closet water fountain. When a student seems a bit off their game or a bit sleepy from the night before a Jolly Rancher or piece of minty gum helps perk them back up and gets them on track. If a student comes in hungry because they missed lunch to make up work or didn't bring anything to eat and the cafeteria didn't have the best offerings, students know they can ask for a granola bar (or two) to fill their bellies.
These little offerings to our students make a big deal and allows us to provide for them the best opportunity to succeed in class.
Thank you for your generous donation!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by The Peterson Family and 6 other donors.Purchasing a Printer and Writer's Notebooks
Funded Sep 29, 2022Sometimes people think of getting supplies in the education world as a modern-day version of the Hunger Games. While I can't say that I have been airlifted to a jungle and had to battle robotic hornets, I can say there has been much angst and stress to print out documents, graphic organizers, and notes for students in a timely fashion.
By having a color printer in our classroom (with an extra supply of ink), students and staff can provide support, submit assignments, and decorate our classroom more easily, which saves time for more direct instruction, conferences, and planning for our students.
Students know they can come to our classroom if they need to print out an essay for another class and I can easily print out documents to share with students on the spot rather than finding a working copy machine or waiting for turn-around time in the office. Thank you for the generous donation!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by Smarties Candy Company and 5 other donors.Starting 'Write' on Day One
Funded Jul 11, 2022One of the greatest instructional strategies teachers employ is consistency. This year, through your generous donation, we were able to provide consistency regarding students' notebooks. By ensuring all students have their own composition notebook for a writer's notebook, we are able to encourage students to be as productive as possible.
It is my goal for each and every student to completely fill up their writer's notebook, not just with notes, but rather with journals, reflections, narratives, arguments, and poetry. I hope by the end of the year (or sooner!) they can hold up their writer's notebook, leaf through the pages, and see barely any blank spaces. It is my hope that they know they worked hard, improved their writing skills, and unlocked some form of creativity they didn't know they had. If it wasn't for your donation, we wouldn't be able to accomplish this goal. These notebooks are wonderful and it is so great to provide all our students with one and not have them worry about buying more supplies for another class.
Thank you again!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose community & an Anonymous Partner and 6 other donors.Making our Classroom a Home
Funded Apr 7, 2022From the moment we received our packages for this project, students were very excited to know that if there are any items they need to get through the day, they can come to our classroom and ask. If you need a Band-Aid, "Go see Ms. Spillane! She has everything!" If you need any feminine hygiene products and don't want to run downstairs all across the building to the health center, "Ms. Spillane got you!"
Truth is, I wouldn't be able to help anyone if it wasn't for your generous donations to help our students out. Sometimes it is the conveniences of home that help make students' time in the classroom more productive and focused.
By creating a home-like environment in the classroom, students feel safe and are more ready to learn when they are here with us.
Thank you again for your kindness. I always tell my students that these are the kind gestures that help make the world a little better. They see that and are grateful for it.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose community & an Anonymous Partner and 2 other donors.Stop the Summer Slide with High-Interest Books
Funded Jun 21, 2022This school year's independent reading drive is off to a great start due to the high-interest books in our classroom library, all thanks to you and your generous donations. It is often difficult to purchase books that students gravitate towards if they are not on the NYC DOE's official vendor site. Through Donors Choose's partnerships and your donation, we have been able to stock our shelves with many graphic novels, manga, and other high-interest books. Two series the students love reading are "Invincible" and "Paper Dolls" (I'm using quotes because the formatting does not allow for underlining or italics). The "Invincible" compendium is over 700 pages long and one student has already finished it and is beginning to read the second compendium. The other series students are really enjoying is "Paper Dolls." With your donations, we were able to buy multiple copies allowing students to read and chat about these graphic novels and form their own little book clubs. Our classroom library is the envy of the ELA department!
Thank you again for your support. It is greatly appreciated.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 7 other donors.May The 4th Be With Them
Funded Apr 7, 2022One of my fondest memories this year was when my students received their Star Wars care packages to help provide comfort and motivation for the AP Literature and Composition exam which was administered on May 4th, 2022 -- also known as 'May the 4th Be With You Day.'
Even my helpers who helped unpack the items and stuff the Star Wars-themed goodie bags had so much fun knowing they were part of an unofficial joy campaign to spread joy. It was an assembly line of happiness and caring.
On test day, students were able to utilize their holographic Ticonderoga pencils to mark their multiple-choice questions, the Star Wars gel pens to write their essays, and later swap their Grogu stickers after the exam.
It is with a heart filled with gratitude and appreciation that I write this letter and hope that you can truly know the impact your generosity made on a very important day.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose community & an Anonymous Partner and 9 other donors.Turning Our Raiders Into Readers
Funded Dec 1, 2021Inspired by the work and leadership of Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle, our high school has embraced daily independent reading in our ELA classrooms. Each day, students enter our classroom and read for ten minutes uninterrupted. Students are encouraged to read whatever they want: graphic novels, comic books, memoirs, horror, romance. Our goal is to cultivate a love of reading, increase students' attention spans through improving reading stamina, and ultimately develop higher reading comprehension skills. When students are done with their books, they sit for informal one-on-one conferences where they discuss their understandings of the book they read.
This school-wide initiative has helped students go from reading only on their phones, to reading multiple books in a matter of months. I think of one of our students, a young man, who has devoured The Amulet graphic novel series. When we conference and discuss the books, we both are amazed how he has become such a lover of reading. Previously, the last book he willingly finished was years ago in elementary school. This student is not the only one who has transformed from reluctant readers to lovers of reading.
It is through your donations, that I have cultivated a culturally-relevant, highly-engaging classroom library that has captured the imaginations of my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 14 other donors.Bringing Books Back to Our Shelves
Funded Nov 20, 2021Inspired by the work and leadership of Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle, our high school has embraced daily independent reading in our ELA classrooms. Each day, students enter our classroom and read for ten minutes uninterrupted. Students are encouraged to read whatever they want: graphic novels, comic books, memoirs, horror, romance. Our goal is to cultivate a love of reading, increase students' attention spans through improving reading stamina, and ultimately develop higher reading comprehension skills. When students are done with their books, they sit for informal one-on-one conferences where they discuss their understandings of the book they read.
This school-wide initiative has helped students go from reading only on their phones, to reading multiple books in a matter of months. I think of one of our students, a young man, who has devoured The Amulet graphic novel series. When we conference and discuss the books, we both are amazed how he has become such a lover of reading. Previously, the last book he willingly finished was years ago in elementary school. This student is not the only one who has transformed from reluctant readers to lovers of reading.
It is through your donations, that I have cultivated a culturally-relevant, highly-engaging classroom library that has captured the imaginations of my students.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and 8 other donors.To Have and to Hold: Books for Our Remote Students
Funded Mar 4, 2021This year was hard. Not seeing my students in person, not seeing their faces, not seeing their work in real-time. I had absolutely no idea if they read any of the texts provided for them. However, I did know that if my students applied annotation skills or demonstrated their thinking through visual notes, I would be able to gauge the progress they made as we read our final text, The House On Mango Street.
Our final assessment was for students to demonstrate their interactions with Sandra Cisneros' novella told through the eyes of Esperanza Cordero. I knew students would connect to the themes about family, community, longing, immigration, poverty, and sadly, violence.
When I read through their final project and saw all the annotations and visual notes on the books that you helped purchased, I knew this project made a huge positive impact on my students' lives. They will own these books with all their thoughts, ideas, and connections written out to keep and read through, time and time again.
Thank you so much for your contributions and for helping my students. You made an extremely hard year a little easier in the end.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
Bringing Books of Magic and Suspense to our Classroom
Funded Mar 5, 2020Thank you so much for donating to help replenish and refresh our classroom library. Students will get to experience the magic of the Harry Potter series and suspense of Stephen Kong’s novel. These are the types of books which help develop a love for reading in all our students. Thank you so much!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Spillane
This classroom project was brought to life by A group of anonymous donors and 3 other donors.